Jowi Taylor

For Canada Day, Joseph Planta’s conversation with the broadcaster and writer Jowi Taylor on the remarkable Six String Nation guitar he put together with 64 pieces of physical Canadian history, all recounted in a new book Six String Nation: 64 Pieces, 6 Strings, 1 Canada, 1 Guitar (Douglas & McIntyre, 2009).

It is fitting for Canada Day that I speak to my next guest, Jowi Taylor, about the marvellous Six String Nation guitar that was his vision, and which he helped put together. The guitar named Voyageur is made from 64 pieces of real Canadian history. Gathered are pieces of wood, bone, metal and stone representing all the regions of the country, a number of characters from our past, each with a story about a place and time that is essentially Canadian. For example, from Drumheller, Alberta is a piece of John Ware’s cabin. He was Alberta’s first black cowboy. There’s a piece of Wayne Gretzky’s hockey stick, one from Paul Henderson’s from the 1972 Summit Series, part of Pierre Trudeau’s canoe paddle, a piece of wood from a rafter of Pier 21 in Halifax, the port terminal building that was the point of entry for over a million immigrants to Canada. There’s a piece of deck from the Bluenose II, and from BC there’s a piece from Nancy Greene’s ski, and a piece of spruce taken from Haida Gwaii. All the items, this wonderful story on how it all came about, and remarkable photos of people famous and ordinary with the guitar are all found in a new book: Six String Nation: 64 Pieces, 6 Strings, 1 Canada, 1 Guitar. It’s a great capstone to this project, and a chance for all of us to see the guitar, if you haven’t already. It’s toured the country, I’m told, travelling some 200,000 kilometres across the country having been held by thousands of Canadians. Jowi Taylor is a Peabody Award winning freelance writer, host and producer, working for many years at CBC Radio. He joins me from Ottawa this day, where he will be participating in Canada Day celebrations there. The book is published by Douglas & McIntyre. The website for more is http://www.sixstringnation.com. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Jowi Taylor; Good morning, Mr. Taylor.